Care Leave Extended to 20 Days... Workplace Childcare Programs Still Met with Reluctance

Assemblyman Jang Cheol-min's 'COVID-19 Care Gap Response Survey' Results
69.2% of Dual-Income Workers Say 'Difficult to Use Annual Leave'
More Than Half Rely on Emergency Care... "Left Children Alone" 23%

Students are studying apart from each other in the emergency care classroom. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

"It is difficult for private companies to utilize various systems. Please make efforts to create a social atmosphere where childcare systems can be used confidently."

"I hope the culture changes so that when I take family care leave, someone else at work does not have to take on more work and neglect their family."

The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has made care gaps a reality. If the care crisis continues, another 'Ramyun Brothers' incident could happen again. Working parents agreed that the social atmosphere, which makes it difficult to use annual leave or care leave, must be changed. This was revealed in a recent online survey conducted by Jang Cheol-min, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

The survey to prepare countermeasures for COVID-19 care gaps was conducted over two weeks from August 27 to September 7. There were a total of 412 respondents, of which 283 (69%) were dual-income workers, 111 (27%) single-income, and 18 (4%) single-parent families. By employment type, there were 223 regular employees, 42 non-regular employees, 26 self-employed, 26 special-type workers/freelancers, 5 daily workers, 88 full-time or on leave, and 2 others.

84.1% of Dual-Income Workers Responded 'Difficult to Use Care Leave'

Due to the prolonged COVID-19 situation, daycare centers, kindergartens, and elementary schools have been closed or switched to remote classes. However, dual-income workers pointed out that the atmosphere remains widespread where it is difficult to use annual leave or care leave for childcare. Among 283 dual-income workers, 69.2% responded that 'using annual leave is difficult,' and 84.1% said 'using family care leave is difficult.' More than half (51%) of dual-income workers said they are considering leave of absence or resignation because they cannot endure the care gap.

Survey results of 283 dual-income workers (Provided by Jang Cheol-min's office)

Looking at how dual-income workers care for their children, more than half (multiple responses, 58.3%) relied on emergency care. Answers indicating that parents, relatives, or family members took care of the children accounted for 23.3%, and 22.9% reported having experience leaving their children home alone. Among the 60 respondents (21%) who said they used annual leave, 34 said they had no remaining annual leave. Of these, 27 also said they had no remaining care leave. Among the 42 respondents (14.8%) who used family care leave, 39 said they had 5 days or less of care leave remaining.

Care Leave Extended Up to 20 Days... "Contract Workers and SMEs Should Utilize"

Due to the prolonged COVID-19 situation, the government and the National Assembly recently amended the law to allow family care leave to be extended from 10 days per year to an additional 10 days (15 days for single parents). However, as revealed in this survey, family care leave is often a 'pipe dream' in the field. As of October last year, there were 1,932,000 households with children under 6 years old, but only 118,891 workers received family care leave cost support (as of August 28).

Four out of ten dual-income workers chose 'support for telecommuting or flexible work' as the necessary government policy to resolve care gaps. There was also an opinion to promote family care leave, which is mainly used in public institutions or large companies, so that contract workers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can use it universally.

In single-income households, 72.1% (multiple responses) answered that the 'main caregiver at home' takes care of children attending online classes due to school closures. Families using emergency care accounted for 33.3%, and those entrusting children to family or relatives accounted for 12.6%. Half of single-parent workers said they are considering leave of absence or resignation because they cannot endure the care gap.

Assemblyman Jang Cheol-min criticized, "Working couples most frequently chose telecommuting and flexible work as the policies they want from the government, but the working environment still remains difficult to use leave or telecommuting as before the pandemic." He added, "We must provide tailored support through detailed policy design for various types of working families so that working parents do not lose both work and childcare."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.